Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The first of a series of deadlines given to the owner of a collapsed building in Tekoa has passed while the city monitors the situation on the clean-up and stabilization work.
The roof of the former Cohn Motor Company – at the corner of Crosby and Main Street – collapsed in January under snow.
On March 20, the City of Tekoa issued a directive to building owner Keith Anderson, stating that he would need to put up a temporary fence by March 24. Also, he would have two weeks to pick up bricks on the south side of building and put a metal fence up on the south and west side, for a deadline of April 3.
Neither of the two expired deadlines were met.
“We’ll probably not take action until next council meeting,” said Mayor John Jaeger. “The easiest thing to do is pick up the bricks, and that didn’t happen.”
Jaeger and the city council also expect Anderson to deliver a certified letter from a structural engineer by April 17 verifying the safety of the building.
“The city took a strong position that the building owner needs to rectify the situation immediately,” said Councilman Ted Blaszak.
Tekoa Building Inspector Zach Lanham has estimated 1,200 square feet of roof came down onto the second floor of the building, along with part of the brick wall on both sides.
“The work’s in progress to decide how to proceed forward,” said Lanham.
“I’m not staying up at night worrying about it, but we have a liability there,” Jaeger said. “A disaster waiting to happen, it could be in two years or tomorrow. I would hope that Mr. Anderson takes care of his own building.”
In the meantime, on March 15, two representatives from the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation came to Tekoa to look at the building and the Empire Theatre.
Michael Houser, National Register program coordinator, and Nick Vann, historical architect, arrived to evaluate whether either building could be a good nominee for the National Register.
“The hope is that it will lead to Keith being able to rehabilitate the building,” said Greg Griffith, Deputy State Historic Preservation officer.
The representatives saw potential in their visit.
“Michael and Nick were impressed with the character and description of those buildings. They both felt really good candidates for listing in National Register of Historic Places.”
The next step for Anderson would be to develop a nomination document, which may be submitted for Houser to review, followed by a review by the Washington Governor’s Advisory Council for Historic Preservation.
After that, State Historic Preservation Officer/Director Allyson Brooks would send the application to Washington, D.C.
“If approved, the project(s) would become stronger candidates for applying for grants for rehab,” said Griffith.
A tax incentive program from the state would also be available.
“I don’t think the city can wait for that to happen,” said Jaeger.
The National Register office does not provide grants. Any sought would be independent.
“These kinds of programs are intent to foster the recognition of these places as part of our heritage,” Griffith said.
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States’ official list of places worthy of preservation. Begun with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register – under the National Park Service – is part of a program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources.
While the two men were in town to look at the Anderson building, Fran Martin, president of Friends of the Empire Theatre, asked that they evaluate the theater.
“It was very interesting,” said Martin. “They were very impressed with the work we’ve done over the years.”
If the 1940 theater is ultimately listed, the group will highlight the designation on its application for grants for future projects. These include wished-for things such as recovering the theater seats and installing new, energy-efficient windows in the back of the building.
On April 11, representatives from Avista will visit the theater as part of consideration for a grant to replace the windows.
Currently, a Whitman County .09 grant is set to be used to open a walkway between the theater and the Tekoa Community Center next door, in which restrooms will be expanded to be handicapped-accessible.
Friends of Empire Theatre formed in 2003.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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